Universities in the United Kingdom
Degree awarding powers and the 'university' title are protected by law,[1] although the precise arrangements for gaining these vary between the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.
The opinion of Robert Peel – cabinet minister and MP for Oxford University – was sought, and (after consulting with his constituents) he advised against proceeding.
In 1838 it opened Britain's first course in engineering, and in 1846 pioneered "halls" accommodation, where students let rooms ready-furnished and serviced by shared staff, and took all their meals together.
In 1835, the government responded by announcing its intention to establish the University of London as an examining board that would grant degrees to affiliated colleges and medical schools.
There has been considerable debate since the 1980s about the tendency toward vocationalism and the decline in the humanities, as well as a growing mindset among senior administrators that is preoccupied with marketing and corporate-like measures of "success.
For both degree awarding powers and university title, the final decision is made by the Privy Council on the advice of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).
[54][55] The rules in England and Wales diverged from those in Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2004 and were further modified in 2010 with the introduction of foundation degree awarding powers for further education colleges.
The overall higher education FTE student number criterion remained at 4,000, with 3,000 on degree-level courses (clarified to include foundation degrees, which has been introduced since the 1999 regulations).
New criteria for university title will apply for applications from April 2019, the government had started its intention that student numbers limits will be removed but that the criterion that 55 percent of students are on higher education courses will remain, and that providers with bachelor's degree awarding powers and single subject degree awarding powers will be eligible for university title.
The act gives OfS the ability to remove indefinite degree awarding powers and university title from any institution in England, including those granted these by royal charter.
[69] Other universities have a broad variety of governance structures,[70] although if there is not a special statute or constitution, the general rules are set by the Education Reform Act 1988.
[71] The wide variations in governing bodies raise the question about staff or student voice should have any limit, given their fundamental expertise in university life.
[73][74] Before 1998, universities were funded mainly by central government, although they have been increasingly reliant on charging students and seeking to raise private capital.
[75] Second, under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 there are funding councils paid for through general taxation for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Further, appointed in 1996, the Dearing Report argued for the introduction of tuition fees because it said graduates had "improved employment prospects and pay.
"[80] Instead of funding university through progressive tax, the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 mandated £1,000 fees for home students.
In England, this rose to £3,000 in the Higher Education Act 2004, and £9,000 after the Browne Review in 2010 led by the former CEO of oil corporation BP.
[93]) In April 2017 the House of Commons voted to increase the cap on tuition fees to £9,250 per year, which took effect for students starting in September 2017.
Maclean, who classified it as "ancient", noted that: "Several Englishmen have been surprised that Durham should be grouped with Oxford and Cambridge, rather than with the newer English universities, since it was founded in 1832.
The Robbins Committee (1963) rejected both these arguments and paid more attention to the criterion of size, including Durham with the smaller civic universities".
[125] The University of Keele is also categorised by Scott as sui generis on the basis that it was "bravely designed in the 1940s up provide a broad undergraduate education but with an extra-mural twist to reflect its Potteries location".
[155] According to research by the University and College Union, in 2019/20 around 220,000 academic staff were employed in UK higher education institutions; a third of these were on fixed-term contracts.
[172] In the 2020 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Oxford was placed first, Cambridge third, and Imperial tenth; while the 2020 top fifty also included UCL at fifteenth, LSE at 27th, Edinburgh at 30th, and King's College London at 36th.
[183] In the QS World University Rankings, Oxford (fourth in 2020), Cambridge (seventh), UCL (eighth), and Imperial (ninth) are consistently present in the top ten.
One reason for this variation is the wealth of graduates' family backgrounds, but subject and institution choice as well as prior education attainment level can be a more significant determinant.
[262][263][264] A 2017 study by the Office for National Statistics found that, although university graduates are consistently more likely to be employed than non-graduates, they are increasingly likely to be overqualified for the jobs which they do hold.
[270] A 2020 study by the Department for Education found that the median annual earnings of university graduates, five years into their careers, ranged from £20,800 in the creative arts and design to £49,450 in medicine and dentistry.
[273] A 2018 study by the UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment concluded that improvements in faculty skill and student motivation are only two of many factors driving average grades upward, that grade inflation is real, that the British undergraduate degree classifications will become less useful to students and employers, and that inflation will undermine public confidence in the overall value of higher education.
[274] Many students believe that a First or upper Second, by itself, is no longer sufficient to secure a good job, and that their CVs must include additional experiences, such as extracurricular activity, to remain competitive.
[276] It is also responsible for producing subject benchmark statements and descriptions of the different degree levels (foundation, bachelor's master's and doctorates).
